Fender Musical Instruments Corporation

Who owns Fender?
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is majority owned by Servco Pacific Inc., a family-owned conglomerate based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Servco took sole majority control in February 2020 after buying out TPG Growth's stake.

Is Fender a public company?
No. FMIC is privately held. There is no stock ticker, and shares are not available to public investors.

When was Fender founded?
Leo Fender founded the company in 1946 in Fullerton, California. It was sold to CBS in 1965 and bought back by employees and investors in 1985.

Where are Fender guitars made?
U.S.-made Fenders are built in Corona, California, including Custom Shop models. The Ensenada, Mexico plant makes mid-priced Player Series instruments, and Squier models are produced by contract manufacturers in Asia.

Who is the CEO of Fender?
Edward "Bud" Cole became CEO on February 16, 2026, succeeding Andy Mooney, who retired after a decade leading the company.

What brands does Fender own?
FMIC owns Fender, Squier, Jackson, Charvel, EVH, Bigsby, and PreSonus, and it manufactures and distributes Gretsch guitars under license.

Leo Fender founded the company in 1946 in Fullerton, California, as the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company. A radio repairman rather than a musician, he designed instruments for mass production and easy service, a philosophy that produced the Telecaster, the Precision Bass, and the Stratocaster within a few years and reshaped the music industry.

Leo Fender sold the company to CBS in 1965 for $13 million. The CBS era expanded production but is remembered for declining quality, and by the early 1980s the brand was losing ground to Japanese competitors. In 1985 a group of employees and investors led by Bill Schultz, backed by Servco, bought Fender back from CBS and began a long restoration.

The rebuilt company moved production to a new factory in Corona, California, opened a mid-priced plant in Ensenada, Mexico, and launched the American Standard and Custom Shop lines that restored its reputation. It also assembled a family of related brands, including Squier for entry-level instruments and Jackson and Charvel for the metal market.

Ownership consolidated over time. Servco, an investor since the 1985 buyout, partnered with TPG Growth in 2012 to acquire the stake of private equity firm Weston Presidio, with the two becoming equal partners. In February 2020 Servco bought TPG's entire stake, becoming sole majority owner.

Andy Mooney, recruited from Disney, led the company from 2015 through early 2026, a period that included the pandemic-era guitar boom, the launch of the Fender Play learning app, and the 2021 acquisition of PreSonus. Edward "Bud" Cole, the longtime head of Fender Asia Pacific, succeeded him as CEO on February 16, 2026.

FMIC's sustainability work centers on materials sourcing and manufacturing. It manages ongoing requirements around tonewoods, including compliance with CITES restrictions on rosewood and other protected species that affect instrument construction and international sales.

The company reports efforts to increase the use of sustainable and alternative materials and to improve the environmental performance of its factories. These are self-reported rather than certified to a third-party standard, and the company does not hold B Corp or similar certifications.

Fender's history includes the long-running criticism of CBS-era quality from the 1960s and 1970s, which created the vintage market the company later monetized through reissues and its Custom Shop.

The company has periodically pursued trademark enforcement against makers of Strat-style guitars, with most disputes resolved in favor of competitors' right to sell similar body shapes while respecting logos and branding. It also manages ongoing industry-wide concerns about sustainable tonewood sourcing under CITES rules.